Alleged Crime Kingpin Arrested In Sweep

August 22, 1985|By Justine Gerety and Michael Connelly, Staff Writers

Anthony ``Tumac`` Accetturo, characterized in an indictment as the kingpin of a multimillion-dollar racketeering operation, surrendered to authorities Wednesday in an early morning sweep that federal officials said netted nearly all the New Jersey-based members of the Luchese crime family.

The 81-page, 12-count indictment names 26 suspects, including four Broward County men in addition to Accetturo.

Accetturo, 46, of the 5100 block of Jackson Street, Hollywood, faces three counts in the indictment and is described as the man in charge of the New Jersey-based Taccetta Group Enterprise between 1976 and this year, though he moved from New Jersey to Florida in 1971.

``It doesn`t surprise me that he was characterized as `The Boss` in this indictment,`` Edward Hanna, an attorney with the U.S. Attorney`s Organized Crime Strike Force, said Wednesday during a bond hearing for Accetturo in Fort Lauderdale.

``He is well known to every law enforcement agency in this and other parts of the country as being the organizer and boss of a number of criminal conspiracies and organized crime groups,`` Hanna said.

Accetturo`s cousin, Michael Taccetta, 37, of Florham Park, N.J., served as ``underboss`` of the group, which engaged in cocaine and marijuana trafficking, gambling, loansharking and credit card counterfeiting, according to the indictment.

The Hole in the Wall, a luncheonette in the blue-collar Down Neck section of Newark, in the last few years has served as a headquarters for several of the group`s enterprises, the indictment said.

Describing the effect of the arrests on the entire New York-based Luchese crime family, U.S. Attorney Thomas W. Greelish of New Jersey said, ``I have to believe that it makes major inroads into the operations of the family as a whole because New Jersey is usually one of the more lucrative aspects of anybody`s (organized crime) operation.

``I would believe that it is a substantial portion of their operation.``

Accetturo has long been characterized by local law enforcement authorities as one of the most active and powerful organized crime figures living in Broward County.

According to the indictment, the other four Broward defendants were active in the drug operations of the group.

Those four defendants include: Frank Suppa, 44, of the 5000 block of Grant Street, Hollywood; Gerald Cohen, 44, of the 4000 block of South Cypress Drive, Pompano Beach; Manuel Monteiro, 44, of the 1800 block of South Ocean Boulevard, Pompano Beach; and Giacomo DiNorscio, 45, of the 4000 block of North Cypress Drive, Pompano Beach.

All defendants in the case are charged under the federal Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

U.S. Magistrate Patricia Kyle spent most of Wednesday in bond hearings for the defendants from Broward.

A bond of $300,000 was set for Suppa, $250,000 for Cohen, $65,000 for Montero and $500,000 for DiNorscio.

After a four-hour hearing, Kyle set bond for Accetturo at $450,000, but prosecutors, who had asked that the stocky, gray-haired defendant be held without bond, said they will appeal that ruling. In the meantime, Accetturo remains in federal custody.

Noting that Accetturo`s arrest record dates back to 1956 and that the alleged crimes he was charged with Wednesday occurred while he was already free on bonds from two other pending criminal cases, prosecutors argued that Accetturo should not be freed pending his arraignment on the charges next week in New Jersey.

Accetturo is awaiting trial on charges of race-fixing at Calder Race Track and federal income tax evasion.

``Mr. Accetturo is, as he has long been considered by law enforcement agents, a danger to the community,`` the strike force`s Hanna told Kyle. ``Simply being released on bond is not a deterrent to this man. He has been (involved in criminal activity) for 30 years.``

But Accetturo`s attorney, Milton Ferrell, countered that after each of Accetturo`s many arrests, he has never failed to show for court appearances when freed on bond. Ferrell also noted that Accetturo voluntarily turned himself in Wednesday morning.

``One thing his rap sheet shows is that he has always showed up,`` Ferrell said. ``I can`t imagine anyone else that is a better bond risk than Mr. Accetturo. Very few people commence a flight (from justice) by turning themselves in.``

Kyle ruled that Accetturo could be freed on bond because his ``impeccable`` record of appearing for court while on bond. She also noted that the indictment did not specifically illustrate Accetturo`s role in the crimes.

``My problem is I don`t see any real overt acts (by Accetturo that would justify no bond,)`` she said. ``The government has not given me any evidence as to any additional active part`` he played in the crimes.

Ferrell also said during the hearing that the government showed little evidence in the indictment tying Accetturo to the crimes.